Method for applying bead flipper

ABSTRACT

A methods and an apparatus for applying the belt-shaped bead filler on the bead core with apex. The method comprises the the steps of: rotating a bead core with an apex together with a belt-shaped bead filler; mounting the bead filler on the internal circumferential surface in an approximately cylindrical shape so as to form an overlapping portion; joining at least a part of the overlapping portion; folding up the cylindrical bead filler on both sides of apex and bead core and press-fitting so as to unify them. The apparatus comprises bead supporting means for supporting rotatably a bead core with an apex, bead filler guide means having a movable table to mount a starting edge of the bead filler against the internal circumferential surface of the bead core, bead filler cutting means for cutting the bead filler, bead rotating means for rotating the bead core with the bead filler, bead filler joining means for joining at least a part of overlapping portions, bead filler folding-up means for folding up the bead filler and bead filler press-fitting means for adhering the bead filler to the both side faces of the apex and bead core. Thereby, since the belt-type bead filler is folded up after being formed in the shape of cylindrical and the overlapping portion being jointed on both sides of the bead core, it hence becomes possible to enhance the quality of tire by preventing the formation of staggered joint and wrinkles.

This application is a divisional of copending application Ser. No.07/566,893, filed on Aug. 14, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,538, whichis a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 07/256,963, filedOct. 13, 1988, now abandoned. The entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for applyinga belt-shaped bead filler or flipper on a bead core with apex, in whichthe bead filler cords, at the overlapping joint portion thereof, areprevented from being disturbed in the arrangement angles so as not tocause staggered joint and wrinkle.

As schematically shown in FIG. 15, at the tire bead equipped with anannular bead core A, an apex B extending outward in the radial directionis provided and also a bead filler C forming a reinforcing layer byfolding up from an internal circumferential surface AQ of the bead coreA toward both side faces of the apex B is provided inside of at leastone layer of a carcass P.

For such a bead filler C, as shown roughly in FIG. 16, generally used isa belt-shaped sheet body having filler cords D composed of organicfibers such as nylon, or inorganic fibers such as steel arrangedparallel with a specified inclination (for example, 45 degrees) to thelongitudinal direction and covered with raw rubber.

Meanwhile, certain apparatuses for applying such a bead filler C aroundon the bead core A were proposed, for example, in Japanese PatentPublication No. 52-36783 and Japanese Laid-Open No. 59-209844. In suchconventional apparatuses, however, a starting edge CT of the bead fillerC is attached to the internal circumferential surface AQ of the beadcore A and then the bead filler is folded up around the bead core Aoutward in the radial direction gradually from the starting edge CTaccording to the rotation of the bead core A.

But in such a construction the bead filler C was gradually folded upalong the bead core A at the same time the bead filler C was being fedto the internal circumferential surface AQ of the bead core A, and sincethe starting edge CT which was the starting portion for folding up thebead filler C and the terminating edge CE which was the end portion offolding were so-called free ends which tended to deform easily,deformation in folding-up was caused, especially at a knife tip portionET which became a sharp triangular shape generated at an edge because ofa slant cutting along a filler cord D (shown in FIG. 16), to fold up thefiller cord D, as shown by a solid line in a circled part in FIG. 17, ata larger angle in the radial direction than the original cord angle (forexample, 45 degrees). While at an obtuse triangular portion EE on theother edge, the change of cord angles was scarcely generated as shown bybroken lines in FIG. 17.

As a result, at the joint overlapping portion J where the knife tipportion ET of the starting edge CT was superposed on the obtusetriangular portion EE of the terminating edge CE, owing to thestanding-up of the cord at the knife tip portion ET, mismatching of cordangles occurred and the filler cords D crossed each other so as togenerate a so-called staggered joint (an offset at the joint, shown inthe circle in FIG. 17). Accordingly, a tire with a uniform internalstructure cannot be produced because of formation of wrinkles at theportion and adverse effects were exerted on the quality of the tire suchas filler cord looseness and deterioration of force variation. The jointstagger moreover became more apparent according to the folding height,that is, the length from the internal circumferential surface AQ to theupper edge AP of the folded part increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is hence a primary object of the present invention to provide amethod and an apparatus for applying a bead filler which are capable ofpreventing the joint stagger of the bead filler, preventing formation ofwrinkles, and thereby enhancing the quality of the tire.

According to the invention relating to a applying method of bead filler,the method comprises the steps of rotating by one revolution a bead corewith an apex having the apex preliminarily mounted annularly on anoutward surface of an annular bead core in the radial direction togetherwith a belt-shaped bead filler of which starting edge is joined to aninternal circumferential surface of the bead core, mounting the beadfiller on said internal circumferential surface in an approximatelycylindrical shape so as to form an overlapping portion for joint by thestarting edge and the terminating edge of the bead filler, uniting tojoint at least a part of said overlapping portion, folding up saidcylindrical bead filler on both sides of said apex and bead core byrotating coiling said bead core, and pressfitting so as to unify them.

Further, according to the invention relating to a bead filler applyingapparatus, the apparatus comprises bead supporting means for supportingrotatably a bead core with an apex preliminarily mounted in an annularshape on an outward surface of the annular bead core in the radialdirection by outer circumferential surfaces of a plurality of guiderollers arranged on an approximately identical circumference, beadfiller guide means having a movable table capable of reciprocating forguiding and pushing, and thereby mounting a starting edge of thebelt-shaped bead filler against the internal circumferential surface ofthe bead core supported by said bead supporting means, bead fillercutting means having a cutter for cutting said belt-shaped bead fillerin a dimension slightly longer than the length of said internalcircumferential surface of the bead core, bead rotating means forwinding said bead core which is supported by the bead supporting meansand on which internal circumferential surface the starting edge of thebead filler is mounted, bead filler joining means for uniting to jointat least a part of overlapping portion between the starting edge and theterminating edge of the bead filler mounted in an approximatecylindrical shape on the internal circumferential surface of the beadcore while said bead core is rotated, bead filler folding-up means forfolding up said cylindrical bead filler of which overlapping portion isjoined on both side faces of said apex and bead core, and bead fillerpress-fitting means for press-fitting the folded bead filler to the bothside faces of the apex and bead core.

Constructed in the above way according to this invention, in folding upthe bead filler C outward in the radial direction of the bead core A,the process of preliminarily joining at least the knife tip portion ofthe overlapping portion for joint causes the filler cords at theoverlapped portion to be raised and folded up by keeping uniformly theoriginal cord angles, and hence there is no risk for the occurrence ofmismatching of angles between the cords at the starting edge CT and theterminating edge CE at the knife tip portion ET.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail byway of example with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view schematically showing an embodiment ofthis invention only by its principal parts;

FIG. 1(b) is a sectional view showing the relation of position andinclination between the bead core and bead filler;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevation showing principal parts of theapparatus;

FIG. 3 is an arrow view on line Z--Z in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of guide rollers andfiller joining means;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of the fourth and fifthguide rollers and the bead positioning means;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of filler guide meansand filler cutting means;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of filler folding-upmeans;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of filler press-fittingmeans;

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the operation of the filler cutting means;

FIG. 10(a) is a front view schematically showing the operation of thefiller guide means;

FIG. 10(b) is a sectional view on line X--X in FIG. 10(a) schematicallyshowing the state of pressing the starting edge of the filler againstthe internal circumferential surface of the bead core;

FIG. 10(c) is a front view schematically showing the cutting position byfiller cutting means;

FIG. 10(d) is a sectional view on line Y--Y in FIG. 10(c);

FIG. 10(e) is a perspective view showing a bead filler mountedcylindrically on the bead core with a bead apex;

FIG. 10(f) is a front view showing a completely finished state of thesticking of the bead filler on the bead core;

FIG. 10(g) is a sectional view in the radial direction of FIG. 10(f);

FIG. 11 is a front view schematically showing the filler joining means;

FIG. 12 is a plan view schematically showing the relative positionbetween the overlapping portion of the filler and the filler joiningmeans;

FIG. 13 is a front view showing the operation of the filler folding-upmeans;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing the operation of the fillerpress-fitting means;

FIG. 15 is a sectional view of the tire bead area;

FIG. 16 is a plan view schematically showing the bead filler; and

FIG. 17 is a front view schematically showing a staggered joint.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The method of the invention is characterized by a step of preliminarilyjoining at least a part of overlapping portion for joint of a beadfiller C before folding up the bead filler C outward in the radialdirection of an annular bead core A.

The bead core A is an annular body formed by coiling rubbered steelcords, and its dimension is preset depending on the tire sizes. Inaddition, on the bead core A, as roughly shown in FIG. 15, a bead apex Bhaving a triangular section becoming narrower outward in the radialdirection and composed of hard rubber has been mounted in an annularshape on the entire external circumference of the bead core A in aprevious process.

The bead filler C is, in this embodiment, is a belt-shaped sheet bodyformed by cutting a belt-shaped fabric cloth composed of organic fibercords such as nylon and kevlar coated with rubber in a specified widthin bias, for example, at 45 degrees in regard to the lengthwisedirection and by joining a multiplicity of thus obtained cut pieces attheir non-cut edges.

Furthermore in the bead filler C in this embodiment, the center line CCis deviated from the bead core A as shown in FIG. 12 so that anoverhanging portion CA should be wider than the other overhangingportion CB. As a result, when the filler C is folded up on the bothsides of the bead, as shown in FIG. 15, the heights of folded-up edgesAP1 and AP2 of the filler C do not match each other, and a preferablestep is formed, which can reduce a sudden change in stiffness. In orderto prevent the staggered joint as described above at this portion inthis embodiment, the overlapping portion J of the bead filler C ispreliminarily joined before folding up at this wider overhanging portionCA.

In this invention, the bead core A is rotated in the direction of anarrow S in the state that a starting edge CT of the belt-shaped beadfiller C is pressed against an internal circumferential surface AQ ofthe bead core A with an apex supported rotatably (shown in FIG. 10(a),(b)), and the rotation is stopped when the rotating angle of thestarting edge CT of the bead filler C becomes a predetermined angle (α)(shown in FIG. 10(c), (d)). This angle (α) is an angle position wherethe length of the bead filler C from the starting edge CT to the cuttingposition by a cutter 16 becomes a dimension slightly longer than thelength of the internal circumferential surface AQ of the bead core A,that is, a sum of the length of the internal circumferential surface AQand the length of the overlapping portion J. The bead filler C is cut inthis state to a predetermined dimension obliquely along the filler cordD by the cutter 16, and sequentially the bead filler C is mounted in anapproximate cylindrical shape on the internal circumferential surface AQas shown in FIG. 10(e) by further rotating the bead core A. In this way,the overlapping portion J for joint is formed with the starting edge CTand the terminating edge CE of the bead filler C (shown in FIG. 10(e)).After uniting by press-fitting to joint, for example, the wideroverhanging portion CA of the overlapping portion J at a knife tipportion ET; the bead core A is rotated again for one revolution as shownin FIG. 13, and at this time, the cylindrical bead filler C is folded upoutward in the radial direction of the bead core A and simultaneouslypress-fitted and unified to both side faces of the bead core A and thebead apex B, and thereby the bead filler is completely applied andadhered to the bead (shown in FIGS. 10(f), (g) and FIG. 14). In thisprocess, it is also possible to join the overlapping portion j of thecylindrical bead filler C not only at the knife tip part ET but also thewhole portion of the overlapping portion.

Consequently, when folding up the bead filler C outward in the radialdirection of the bead core A, the overlapping portion J for joint,especially the knife-tip portion ET is preliminarily joined, so that thefiller cords D at the overlapping part J are folded up while keeping theoriginal cord angle uniformly, and there is hence no possibility ofinducing mismatching of angles between the cords at the starting edge CTand the terminating edge CE at the knife tip portion ET.

Another embodiment relates to an apparatus used in executing the methodinvention, which is shown in FIG. 1(a) where a frame of the apparatus isomitted and the configuration of the parts is preliminarily shown androughly illustrating guide rollers 21 to 25 of bead supporting means 2,filler feeding means 3, a cutter 16 of filler cutting means 4, a movabletable 35 of bead filler guide means 5, bead rotating means 6, areceiving piece 18 and a turning piece 19 of filler joining means 7, afolding-up shaft of filler folding-up means 10, a cone roller 74 and adisc multiple-stage roller 76 of filler press-fitting means 11, and amain shaft 28 of bead positioning means 12. FIGS. 2 and 3 are aschematic front view and a left side elevation respectively, which aredrawn simplifying part of means such as frame for the sake of simplicityof illustration.

In FIGS. 1 to 8, bead filler applying apparatus 1 comprises beadsupporting means 2 for supporting an annular bead core A, bead fillerfeeding means 3 for feeding a bead filler C, bead filler cutting means 4for cutting the fed bead filler C, bead filler guide means 5 for guidinga starting edge CT of the bead filler C toward the bead core A andmounting it on the internal circumferential surface of the bead core A,bead rotating means 6 for rotating the bead core A, bead filler joiningmeans 7 for joining an overlapping portion J formed as a result ofrotation of the starting edge CT and a terminating edge CE of the beadfiller C (shown in FIG. 10(e), FIGS. 11 and 12), bead filler folding-upmeans 10 for folding up the bead filler C outward in the radialdirection of the bead core A, and bead filler press-fitting means 11 forpress-fitting the folded bead filler C to be a bead apex B and the beadcore A, and this apparatus may be furthermore equipped with beadpositioning means 12 for determining the position in mounting the beadcore.

The bead filler C is formed by arranging relatively short cords inparallel and obliquely to the lengthwise direction and by covering withraw rubber, and it is hence easily deformed and likely to cause corddisturbance. Accordingly it is handled so as not to receive externalforce (stress) as far as possible in feeding or guiding process.

As a result, in the apparatus 1, as shown in FIGS. 1(a), (b) the beadfiller C is fed and guided by the filler feeding means 3 and the fillerguide means 5 while its center line passes through a perpendicularplane, and on the other hand, the bead core A is supported by the beadsupporting means 2 so that a plane containing the bead core A should bemaintained on a plane A2 which is inclined from a virtual plane A1 at anangle of (β) forward at the bottom having a peak point a which is commonwith the top point of the bead filler C so as not to interfere with thebead filler C fed in a perpendicular plane toward the internalcircumferential surface AQ.

The bead supporting means 2 comprises first to fifth guide rollers 21,22, 23, 24 and 25, and the first and second guide rollers 21, 22 arecomposed of identical grooved rollers having a small groove in the axialdirection to prevent the bead core A from slipping. The first guideroller 21 (shown in FIG. 4 in details) is furthermore kept so as to becapable of supporting the bead core A at the peak point a and so thatits supporting shaft 21a becomes horizontal to the frame, that is,perpendicular to the plane A1. The second guide roller 22 supports thebead core A at a point b separated by approximately 70 degree inrightwise direction in the drawing, that is, a turning direction of thebead core shown by an arrow S from the peak point a and its supportingshaft 22a crosses with the plane A2 at right angles.

The first guide roller 21 is, as shown in FIG. 1(a), linked at itssupporting shaft 21a to the bead rotating means 6 composed of rotatingmachine M such as a reduction motor through transmission means 6a such atiming belt, and a universal coupling, and others. As a result, the beadrotating means 6 can drive the first guide roller intermittently in thedirection shown by the arrow S, and the bead rotating means 6 ismoreover linked to a supporting shaft 22a of the second guide roller 22through transmission means 6b.

The third guide roller 23 is in a grooved cylindrical shape, whichsupports the bead core by its groove at a position c approximately 70degrees from the peak point a to the left in the drawing, that is, inthe anti-rotation direction.

The second and third guide rollers 22 and 23 are, as shown in FIG. 3,pivoted by bearing frames 22b and 23a, which can reciprocate, bycylinders 22c, 23b linked to the bearing frames 22b and 23a, from theoperating position supporting the bead core A at the positions b and cto inner escaping positions 22A, 23A, shown by a chain line in FIG.1(a). On the cylinders 22c, 23b, positioning levers 22d, 23c formaintaining at the operating positions b, c are furnished.

The fourth and fifth guide rollers 24, 25 are grooved cylindricalrollers in approximately the same shape as the third guide roller 23,which can support the bead core A rotatably by their grooves atpositions d and e approximately 140 degrees leftward and rightward fromthe peak point a.

The fourth and fifth guide rollers 24 and 25 are, as shown in FIG. 5,pivoted freely rotatably at both edges of a coupling shaft 26, and thecoupling shaft 26 is mounted on a perpendicular guide 26a furnished on avertical member of the frame through a joint shaft and a linear bearing,and also linked to a cylinder 27 supported at the lower part of thevertical member so that it can rise up to escaping positions 24A, 25Ashown by a chain line in FIG. 1(a).

The movement of the second to fifth guide rollers 22 to 25 up to theescaping positions 22A to 25A as described above causes the bead core Ato be mounted on the groove of the first guide roller 21 withoutinterfering with the rollers 22 to 25 in a preparatory stage in thesticking process of the bead filler C, and the recovery to the operatingpositions causes the bead core A to be supported on the plane A2 whilekeeping a complete circle at the positions equally divided into five,and it also causes the bead positioning means 12 to hold the lower partof the bead core A in mounting the bead core A.

The bead positioning means 12 is, as shown in details in FIG. 5,designed so that a pair of supporting shafts 28 standing up outside thefourth and the fifth guide rollers 24, 25 are vertically fixed to amoving plate at the upper part, and that the moving plate is linked to acylinder 29 mounted at the back of a base frame 30 fixed on the verticalmember of the frame, and the supporting shaft, hence holds the lowerpart of bead core A at the plane A2 by the action of the cylinder 29,and also withdraws the supporting shafts 28 to the escaping position 28Aby the contraction of the cylinder 29 when the bead core A is supportedby the guide rollers 21 to 25. The moving plate 30 has locking guides30a passing through the base body projected therefrom.

To the internal circumferential surface AQ of the bead core A, the beadfiller C is fed and guided near the first guide roller 21 by using thefiller feeding means 3 and filler guide means 5.

The filler feeding means 3 comprises, as shown in FIG. 1(a), asupporting shaft 31a for supporting a bead filler roll CR, a supportingshaft 31b for winding a liner L linked to a motor with brake (not shown)for drawing out the liner L together with the filler, and upper andlower photoelectric apparatus 32, 33. The motor with brake drives thedrawing shaft 31b so that the sagging length of the bead filler C formedin front of the apparatus 1 should be in the height ranges of thephotoelectric apparatus 32, 33, which makes it possible to preventunnecessary external force (stress) from being applied on the beadfiller C to be applied on the bead core A.

The bead filler guide means 5 is furnished with a movable table 35reciprocating near the first guide roller 21 up and down somewhatobliquely toward the upstream side in the rotating direction S of thebead core A, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the movabletable 35 is equipped with guide plates 37, 39 for controlling theposition in the widthwise direction of the bead filler C, fillerpressing means for pressing the bead filler C in cutting, and a blowingapparatus 41 for pressing the cut edge of the bead filler C by an airflow, and on the other hand, the filler cutting means 4 is integrallymounted on the movable table 35.

The movable table 35 comprises a pressing part 43a at an anglecoinciding with that of filler cords D on the upward edge of a flatplate-shaped base plate 43, a protrusive part 43b on the side part of ashorter side extending from the base plate 43 in the side direction, anda receiving part 43c protruding from the pressing part 43a, which canform a notch groove 45 with the pressing part 43a where a cutter 16having the identical inclination passes. A side edge 43d of thereceiving part 43c on the center side prevents the collision between thereceiving part 43c and the bead core A due to the movement of themovable table 35 by deflecting from the position of the movable table 35approaching near the bead core A by the movement of the movable table 35to the shorter side part. Rectangular openings 36 are formed nearly onboth sides of the center of the movable table, and the guide plates 37,39 are guided by a guide shaft 36a passing through opening 36. The guideplates 37, 39 are long plates contacting with the upper surface of themovable table 35, and the bead filler C is guided between them. Theguide plates 37, 39 are respectively engaged with screw shafts 49, 50(shown in FIG. 9) which are pivoted on the movable table 35, which canmove the guides 37, 39 in the approaching or departing direction byturning handles 51, 51 at one end each of the screw shafts 49, 50, andthe interval between the guides is thereby adjusted freely depending onthe width and the position of the center line CC of the bead filler C tobe guided. In addition, holding means 52 is provided near the upper edgeof the guide 37, one of the two, which has a claw 52b for preventingdropout pivoted on a shaft 52a being inclined so that its tip risesupward and contacts with the upper surface of the movable table 35. Thisclaw 52b engages with the bead filler C to prevent slip-off of the beadfiller C from the base plate 43 of the movable table 35 by a wedgingeffect.

In the filler pressing means 40, a pushing piece 55 extending toward thecenter part of the base plate 43 obliquely at an angle equal to thenotch groove 45 through which the cutter passes is mounted on the upperends of guide shafts 53, 53 supported movably up and down at a rightangle to the base plate 43 by the protrusive part 43b, and the lowerends of the guide shafts 53, 53 are linked to each other by a couplingpiece 57 at the lower part of the protrusive part 43b, and furthermore,a pushing piece 56 positioned above the receiving part 43 in the samedirection as the pushing piece 55 is fixed through joint shafts 54, 54.A cylinder 58 fixed on the protrusive part 43b through a supportingframe is linked to the upper part of the inner guide shaft and itscontraction and expansion bring the pushing pieces 55, 56 closer to thebase plate 43 of the movable table 35 and the upper surface of thereceiving part 43c on the both sides of the notching groove 45 andtherefore makes it possible to pinch and fix the bead filler C incutting.

The blowing apparatus 41 comprises a blower 59 generating an airpressure to such an extent as to push the starting edge CT of the beadfiller C against the base plate 43, and the blower 59 has its nozzledirected near the pressing part 43a.

The bead filler cutting tool 4 comprises, for example, a cylinder 61 ona supporting plate 60 fixed on the protrusive part 43b and extendingobliquely sideways, a cutter attached to the cylinder 61 through a guideshaft 60a and a fitting 60b and a heater 62 for heating the cutter 16.The tip of the cutter forms an approximate V shape, and the cutter 16cuts the bead filler C obliquely along its forward and backward movementby moving from one edge to the other of the movable table 35 through thenotching groove 45 at an angle coinciding with the filler cords D by thecylinder 61.

The guide shaft 60a is guided while being prevented from turning by alinear bearing 60c. The cutting angle can be adjusted according to thefiller cord angle by an appropriate angle adjuster mounted on the cutter16 not shown in the drawing. The heater 62 heats the cutter 16, forexample, to about 100 degrees Cent., which makes it easy to cut the rawrubber of the bead filler.

A linear bearing which slides on rails 64, 64 mounted on the frame ismounted on the movable table 35 in its rear lower surface in the centralline direction, and a cylinder 65 mounted on the frame is also linked,so that the movable table 35 can reciprocate by the elongation andcontraction of the cylinder 65 from the operating position where thepressing part 43a of the movable table 35 is pressed against theinternal circumferential surface AQ of the bead core A and the startingedge CT of the bead filler C is pressed against the bead core A andstuck, down to a waiting position 35A (shown in FIG. 1(a)).

The bead rotating means 6 starts its operation after the filler guidemeans 5 presses the starting edge CT of the bead filler C to the beadcore by the elevation of the movable table and it withdraws to thewaiting position 35A. Accordingly, the rotation of the first and secondguide rollers 21, 22 can turn the bead core A and mount the bead fillerC continuously on the internal circumferential surface AQ of the beadcore A. The attachment of the bead filler C causes the entire section tobe in an approximate inverted T-shape as shown in FIG. 10(d). When thebead turns by an angle (α) nearly one revolution as shown in FIG. 10(c),where the length from the starting edge CT of the bead filler C to theoperating position of the cutter 16 becomes equal to the sum of thelength of the internal circumferential surface AQ of the bead core Aplus that of the overlapping portion J for joint, the bead rotatingmeans 6 stops and the cutter 16 allocated at the escaping positionadvances, and the bead filler C is thus cut. The bead rotating means 6restarts and rotates the bead core A to a degree slightly more than onerevolution, and the bead filler C is thereby applied and stuck to theentire internal circumferential surface AQ of the bead core A by makingthe overlapping portion J. As described above, the bead rotating means 6can rotate the bead core A intermittently by approximately onerevolution and the rotation is controlled by a pulse counter (not shown)of the rotating means 6.

In this way, the bead filler C is mounted almost cylindrically on theinternal circumferential surface AQ of the bead core A, as shown in FIG.10(e) together with the overlapping part J.

The filler joining means 7 is located, as shown in FIG. 4, above thefirst guide roller 21, and it is mounted on receiving pieces 21b, 21b onboth sides of a bearing body pivoting a supporting shaft 21a of theroller 21 so as to be capable of adjusting the forward and backwardinclining angle. In this embodiment, positioning means 14 of the beadfiller is provided above the bearing body.

The filler joining means 7 comprises, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 11 andFIG. 12, a receiving piece 18 capable of approaching to or departingfrom the overlapping portion J for joint of the bead filler C, and aturning piece 19 pivoted on the receiving piece 18. The receiving piece18 is a folded-over piece at the lower end of the L-shaped frame, andthe L-shaped frame is linked to a linear bearing through a joint shaft69a capable of adjusting its length. The linear bearing can slide on aperpendicular rail 69c in front of a column 69b supported between thereceiving piece 21b, and the rod of a cylinder 70 mounted on aprotrusion piece at the top of the column 60c by using a screw shaft soas to be capable of adjusting its height is connected to the linearbearing, so that the receiving piece 18 can reciprocate depending on theelongation and contraction of the cylinder 70 from an escaping position18A above to a position where the press-fitting and joining of theoverlapping part J of the bead filler C is required, for example, theposition contacting with the upper surface of the knife tip portion ETof the bead filler in this embodiment in the arrow direction. Theturning piece 19 is pivoted by a bearing part protruding downwardobliquely at the root of the receiving piece 18, and a lever attached tothe turning piece 19 is joined to cylinder 73 mounted tiltably by theL-shaped frame. Consequently, the turning piece 19 can turn between theoperation position superposed with the receiving piece 18 and a waitingposition 19A droping downward, as shown in FIG. 11, by the elongationand contraction of the cylinder 73. At the operating position, the knifetip portion ET of the overlapping portion J is consolidated and joinedin this embodiment.

Here, the width W and the depth (l) of the receiving piece 18 and theturning piece 19 are predetermined by the range to join and adherewithin the overlapping portion J.

The positioning means 14 is designed to mount a moving plate 77 of whichprotruding length is controlled by an adjusting shaft 76 on the rod of acylinder 75 located between the receiving pieces 21b and to guide anedge of the bead filler C transferred from the movable table 35 by anarc-shaped guide piece 78 on the front surface of the moving plate 77.

The filler folding-up means 10 and the filler press-fitting means 11are, in this embodiment, positioned between the first guide roller 21and the second guide roller 22 as shown in FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 3, and thefiller press-fitting means 11 comprises a cone roller 74 and a discmultistage roller 76.

The filler folding-up means 10 has, as shown in FIG. 7, a U-shapedfolding-up tool 82 joining to a pair of folding-up pieces 81, 81 with anarc-shaped top, bent in an arc shape and spaced at a clearance in whichthe bead core A can be inserted, at their root part, and the root partis located on the side of first guide roller 21 pivoted in a supportingplate 83 and joined to a cylinder 84 at its tip. The supporting plate 83is fixed to the frame by a bolt.

As a consequence, the filler folding-up means 10 can tilt the folding-uppieces 81 as shown in FIG. 13 together with the elongation andcontraction of the cylinder 84 between the operating position to fold upthe overhanging parts CA, CB outward in the radial direction of the beadapex and an escaping position 81A shown by a dot-and-dash line.

The filler press-fitting means 11 comprises a cone roller 74 and a discmultistage roller 76 as explained above.

The cone roller 74 is, as shown in FIG. 8, mounted on the moving plate87 through position adjusting means 86. The moving plate 87 is fixed toa guide shaft 88A extending from a transverse table 88 approximatelyperpendicularly to the plane A2, and a cylinder 89 on the transversetable 88 is joined to the guide shaft 88A through a joint plate 88B. Thetransverse table 88 can advance and withdraw on the rail approximatelyparallel to the plane because it is joined with a cylinder 90 on a basetable mounted on the frame.

As a result, extension of the cylinder 89 and contraction of thecylinder 90 cause the cone roller 74 to move to an escaping position 74Ashown by a dot-and-dash line in FIG. 1(a), and furthermore, extension ofthe cylinder 90 causes it to move inward in the radial direction, andthen as shown in FIG. 14, the action of the cylinder 89 causes the coneroller to move to the action position (shown by a solid line in FIG. 1)where the bead filler C is securely press-fitted to the both side facesof the bead apex B and the bead core A in cooperation with the discmultistage roller 76. The position adjusting tool 86 is composed ofthree supporting fittings 86A 86A, 86A, each of which is formed byprotruding a fitting shaft 86b at an end of a base part 86a and making ahole perpendicular to the fitting shaft 86b, and the position and thedirection of the cone roller 74 attached to the top-end supportingfitting 86A can be adjusted by inserting a fitting shaft 86b of theadjacent supporting fitting 86A in the hole and fixing at approximateposition and angle. In the supporting fitting 86A of the root side, itsfitting shaft 86b is inserted and fixed perpendicularly to a protrusionprojecting from the moving plate 87.

The disc multistage roller 76 is attached to the lower part of an edgeof the moving plate 91 by a position-adjusting tool 92, and furthermorein this embodiment, a guide roller 93 contacting with the bead core A ismounted on the moving plate 91 by using a position-adjusting tool 94.

The moving plate 91 is mounted at an end of a guide shaft 91A passingthe base table fixed to the frame, and the guide shaft 91A is linked toa cylinder 95 disposed approximately perpendicular to the plane A2located on the base table through a coupling plate 96 at its rear end sothat it could move between the operation position contacting with thebead apex B and a spaced escaping position 76A. The position-adjustingtools 92, 94 are formed by using supporting fittings 86A similar tothose stated above.

The cone roller 94 having a shape along the side surface of the beadapex B is pivoted rotatably on the supporting fitting 86A, while thedisc multistage roller 76 is a multistage stack-up body of thin discssuch as ball bearings, which is supported in the same way rotatably onthe top end supporting fitting 86A.

The operation of the apparatus of this invention is explained below.

At first, the second to fifth guide rollers 22 to 25 of the beadsupporting means 2 are moved to the escaping positions 22A to 25Arespectively. At the same time, the movable table 35 of the bead fillerguide means 5, the receiving piece 18 of the bead filler joining means7, the folding-up piece 81 of the filler folding-up means 10 and thecone roller 74 and the disc multistage roller 76 of the fillerpress-fitting means are brought to their escaping positions 35A, 18A,81A, 74A and 76A respectively, and on the other hand, the supportingshaft 28 of the bead positioning means 12 is advanced. In this state,the application of the bead core A to the groove of the first guideroller 21 causes the lower end to be supported by the bead positioningmeans, and the bead core A to be inclined and held on the plane A2.

Sequentially when the second to fifth guide rollers 22 to 25 arereturned to their operating positions, the bead core A is correctlysupported in a complete circle. Then the supporting shafts 28 of thebead positioning means 12 are withdrawn to the escaping positions 28A.

The movable table 35 of the filler guide means 5 holds the starting edgeCT of the preliminarily cut bead filler C at its escaping position 35Awhile preventing its slip-off by the holding means 52, and pressesagainst the pressing part 43a by the blowing apparatus 41, and thereforethe bead filler guide means 5 rises owing to the expansion of thecylinder 65 and adheres the starting edge CT of the bead filler C heldby the pressing part 43a of the movable table 35, as shown in FIGS.10(a), (b), at the position deflecting from the filler center CC bypushing against the internal circumferential surface AQ by adhesion(shown in FIG. 10(b)).

After its adhesion, the movable table 35 is brought back to its escapingposition 35A.

The bead rotating means 6 rotates the bead core A by the first guideroller 21 and the second guide roller 22 owing to the drive of therotating machine M. As soon as rotated, the bead filler C adheres to andis mounted on the internal circumferential surface AQ of the bead coreA.

As explained above relating to FIG. 10(c), when the bead apex rotates bya rotating angle of (α) and thus the length from the starting edge CT toa cutting portion of the bead filler C becomes equal to the sum of thelength of the internal circumferential surface of the bead core plusthat to form the overlapping portion J for joint, the bead rotatingmeans 6 is arrested and the bead filler C is cut by the filler cuttingmeans 4. The filler cutting means 4 cuts the bead filler C in thedirection of the filler cords D by reciprocating the cutter 16 throughthe notch groove 45 by making use of the elongation of the cylinder 61.When cutting, as the pushing pieces 55, 56 are pushed down by the actionof the cylinder 58 of the filler pressing means 40 so as to press andhold the bead filler C on the base plate 43, and at the same time, asthe cutter is heated by the heater 62, the bead filler C is correctlycut.

After the cutting, the bead rotating means 6 is restarted, and theapplication of the remaining bead filler C on the internalcircumferential surface AQ up to the terminating edge CE causes the beadfiller C to be mounted cylindrically as shown in FIG. 10(e) and theoverlapping portion j for joint to be formed, and when the knife-tipportion ET of the overlapping portion J coincides with the peak point aof the bead core A, that is, the guide roller 21, the bead rotatingmeans 6 is stopped (FIG. 12).

Sequentially, the cylinder 70 of the filler joining means 7 is elongatedto lower the receiving piece from the escaping position 18A and to makeit abut against the upper surface of the knife-tip portion ET of theoverlapping portion J, and simultaneously the turning piece 19 is turnedby the cylinder 73, and hence the bead filler C is fixed and joined, asshown in FIGS. 11 and 12, at the knife-tip portion ET of the overlappingportion J (shown by a broken-line circle in FIGS. 3 and 12) by theadhesion between raw rubber sheets.

In the next, the restart of the bead rotating means 6 and theinclination of the folding-up piece 81 to the operating position asshown in FIG. 13 by the cylinder 84 of the filler folding-up means 10cause the bead filler C to be folded up outward in the radial directionaround the bead core with the apex.

In succession, the actions of cylinders 89, 90 and 95 of the bead fillerpress-fitting means 11 cause the bead filler C to be press-fitted to theboth side faces of the bead apex B and the bead core A as shown in FIG.14 by the cone roller 74 and disk multi-stage roller 76.

As explained above, since the overlapping portion J of the bead fillerfor joint is preliminarily joined, even when bending and folding up thebead filler C outward in the radial direction around the bead core A,the angle of the filler cords D is not deformed, and therefore itbecomes possible to fold up the bead filler correctly while keeping theoriginal cord angle.

Here, it is possible to form the apparatus 1 of this invention so as tojoin the overlapping portion J at its whole length by using the fillerjoining means 7.

In addition, its continuous and unattended operation is possible byautomatically feeding the bead core A to the guide roller 21 and takingout the bead core A after finishing the bead filler applying process byusing an appropriate closing and opening chuck.

It is furthermore preferably to apply a tack-free treatment on thesurface of the members of the apparatus contacting with the bead fillerC by using Teflon or the like.

As explained above, since the bead filler applying method and itsapparatus of this invention are designed so as to mount the bead fillercylindrically on the internal circumferential surface of the bead core,and to fold up the bead filler outward in the radial direction afteruniting or consolidating at least a part of overlapping portion forjoint, the filler cord angles do not vary, and it hence becomes possibleto enhance the quality of tire bead by preventing the formation ofstaggered joint and wrinkles.

We claim:
 1. A belt-shaped flipper applying method comprising, in order,the steps of:attaching a starting edge of a belt-shaped flipper onto aninternal circumferential surface of an annular shaped bead core, saidbelt-shaped flipper being a longitudinal sheet formed by covering withrubber a plurality of parallel filler cords which are composed oforganic fibers and disposed obliquely to the longitudinal direction ofsaid sheet and being cut along said cords so as to provide a terminatingedge, each of said starting edge and said terminating edge having aknife tip portion of which corner is an acute angle and an obtusetrianlge portion of which corner is an obtuse angle, said bead corehaving an apex mounted annularly on an outward surface of said bead corein the radial direction; rotating said bead core to mount said flipperon said internal circumferential surface in an approximately cylindricalshape so as to form an overlapping portion with said starting edge andsaid terminating edge of said flipper; joining and press-fittingmechanically at least one said knife-tip portion of one of said edges toat least one said obtuse triangle portion of the other of said edgesextending beyond one of a pair of side faces of said bead core in saidoverlapping portion; folding up said cylindrical flipper along each ofsaid pair of side faces of said bead core and each of a pair of sidefaces of said apex by rotating said bead core; and press-fitting so asto unify said flipper with said bead core and apex.